A GYPSY family have been assured that their great-grandfather’s body will NOT be exhumed and moved despite complaints from relatives of a Muslim buried next to him that he was an ‘unbeliever.’

Shadrack ‘Shady’ Smith, 89, a popular figure in the Romany gypsy community, will be left at peace after the Ministry of Justice - the only authority with the power to grant an exhumation licence - said there was "no way" he would be moved.

Mr Smith died from pneumonia on January 13 after breaking his hip on New Year’s Eve.

His family paid £2,500 for three plots at the multi-faith, unconsecrated, cemetery in Lychgate Lane Cemetery, Burbage, Leicestershire.

But they were shocked when a Muslim family who owned the next-door plot allegedly made a “strongly worded and vociferous” complaint to the council about their relative being buried next to Mr Smith.

SWNS

Shadrack Smith, who was a popular figure in the Romany Gypsy community, died last month

This whole thing has devastated our family

Tracey Smith

A Burbage Parish Council said there had been a “misunderstanding on the part of the family complaining” who may have wrongly believed that the plot was segregated solely for Muslims.

However a MoJ spokesman said that without the permission of Mr Smith’s family, no exhumation licence could be granted.

A spokesman said: “Without the permission of the family, no exhumation could go ahead.”

MoJ rules state that anyone applying for an exhumation licence must "get the signature of any close relatives, the owner of the grave plot and the burial authority."

Mr Smith's family, which includes eight children, 25 grandchildren and 40 great grandchildren, had vowed to fight “tooth and nail” to ensure Mr Smith’s body was not moved.